Irv’s ‘Gottis Ways’ & Takes It To The Big Screen

Irv Gotti is doing it his way like Carlito on VH1. His reality show, "Gotti's Way," is a winner, and he is also paying attention to the big screen.

"I want to see that badder than a mutha—-a," Gotti laughed about "American Gangster."

And not just because the film's star, Denzel Washington, is a good friend of his. Gotti really wants to see a black-gangster film have universal appeal.

"We were in Katana," Gotti said, recalling the West Hollywood, California, club where he met Washington a few years ago. "He comes up to me and says, 'I know all about your family. I read [about] you in the L.A. Times a lot. What I've come up with is they f—ing you over and you're gonna get past this.' I was with a chick too, and she gets all Denzel-googly, like, 'Oh, he touched my arm.' He has that mojo. That's Denzel — he's my man, but he's the greatest actor.

"We got into this big conversation about 'American Gangster,' " he added. "He knows how important it is to have a gangster film that is on the level of 'Goodfellas,' that's comparable to 'Scarface.' We have 'Menace II Society' and 'New Jack City,' and they are legendary movies in our world, but they don't transcend. Like 'Goodfellas,' it don't matter what nationality [you are], it's a great movie. We don't have an urban character or urban movies like that."

"Gotti's Way" is on VH1 now. "American Gangster" arrives in theaters November 2.